Sennacherib and the Siege of Jerusalem #1: The Story

1. Introduction
a. Have you ever been in a desperate situation? Have you ever felt like all of the things you get security from are crumbling? Have you ever felt like your very life was hanging in the balance?
b. Then I’ve got a great story for you: the story of Sennacherib and the Siege of Jerusalem.
c. My next seven sermons (apart from Easter) we’re going to be about this great story.
i. It is told three times in the OT: Isaiah 36-37, 2Kg.18:9-19:37 and 2Chron.32:1-23.
d. It is also the context of a number of Psalms: We’re going to address Psalms 44, 46 and 48.
e. It’s also a very involved story, but very rich.
2. Let us read 2 Chron.32:1–23, the shortest version of the story.
3. Setting the stage
a. The characters in the story
i. Hezekiah: King of Judah — He was a very good king, who had finished a long campaign of ridding the land of idols, tearing down the local altars and high places, where people worshiped, but not the way God had proscribed, and with the use of idols.
ii. Sennacherib: King of Assyria
iii. The commander of the Assyrian army (Rabshakeh not a name but a title: field commander)
iv. A group of Hezekiah’s trusted officials: representatives or negotiators
v. Isaiah the prophet, who speak to God’s people on His behalf
b. Age of empires
i. Suzerain king and vassal king
ii. Conquer or surrender
iii. Pay tribute and send armies
iv. The pattern of rebellion when the king died
c. Historical background
i. This was the era when God’s people in the promised land were divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
(1) God had warned them in Deuteronomy 28:49-50 that if they were not faithful to the Lord He would send foreign invaders to bring judgment against them.
(2) Idolatry had become the official religion of Israel in the north.
ii. And now God raises up the Assyrian empire to judge Israel, as He had warned.
(1) Shalmaneser V was the emperor of Assyria when they attacked Israel.
(2) But Shalmaneser V died and the first act of his successor Sargon was finishing the job (or at least that’s what he claimed).
(3) So, Assyria ruled the world under Sargon, incl. Judah, which was paying tribute to Assyria (because Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, caved in and did not trust the Lord - Is.7:1ff.)
iii. Sargon dies in 705BC and a liberation movement sweeps across Assyrian empire.
(1) Hezekiah also led Judah in rebellion against Assyria (2Kg.18:7).
iv. So Sennacherib begins to reassert Assyrian authority and take back the lands which revolted.
(1) The eastern nations first, then he comes west: from north to south.
(2) He leaves Judah for last, then Jerusalem for last.
(3) Sennacherib comes to the edge of Jerusalem.
d. In order to understand this story we need to know something about siege warfare.
i. The best defense against invasion in the ancient world was to have a fortified city, a city with a large, tall, strong wall around it, maybe even two. Ordinarily the gates were open unless there was a perceived danger. Watchmen would look out and if they saw anything threatening they closed the gates.
ii. The best way to conquer a fortified city was by surrounding the city, preventing anyone from going in or out, often diverting the river which ran through the city as the source of water, and starving the people out.
iii. During sieges, the people starved, became desperate, eventually resorted to eating their own waste, and eating each other (remember the unthinkable story of 2Kings 7:25-30 when two women in the siege of Samaria were fighting over eating their children).
iv. This was very effective, but it took a long time. It could tie up an army for a long time.
v. Because of this, they would also use other methods: shooting arrows over the walls, siege works built to knock down the wall, siege mounds against the wall to walk up on and get into the city.
e. Isaiah the prophet had already prophesied repeatedly that Assyria’s invasion would prove unsuccessful in the end, e.g. Is.8:9-10, 17:12-14.
4. The story, including details from Isaiah 36:1-22; 37:1-7; 9b-13:
a. After all of King Hezekiah’s wonderful reforms, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
i. All the cities of Judah have been captured. The only thing left was Jerusalem. And now a large army had arrived on the doorstep of the city, ready to add Jerusalem to the long list of cities conquered and incorporated into the Assyrian empire.
ii. Many from the surrounding unfortified towns had fled into the city so it was crammed full of people, all scared to death. They knew what had happened to the other cities. They were in sheer terror: This is the stuff of nightmares.
iii. There was only one little city left standing up against this mighty world-dominating power.
iv. What’s going on today in Ukraine with Russia: imagine what it’s like being a Ukrainian this morning. This is just the first step in the direction of the kind of fear these people were experiencing.
b. Hezekiah sent a delegation of his most trusted leaders out to meet with the Assyrian general, apparently with a message about how God was watching out for them, and that they were trusting Him for protection.
c. The Assyrian general scoffs at this: “So your strategy is to defeat me with mere words?” Is.36:4
i. “I’ll bet you that if I give you 2000 horses you couldn’t even put riders on them.” Is.36:8
ii. “You can’t even resist one battalion of our army”! Is.36:9 (In other words, Jerusalem didn't even have 2000 soldiers.)
iii. “Not only this, but since you are determined to listen to your God, He’s the One who told me to attack you!” Is.36:10
d. Shhhh! Please.
i. Is.36:11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
ii. Aramaic and Hebrew were closely related but unintelligible to one another.
iii. Aramaic was the trade language. Hebrew was the language of the common people in Judah.
e. But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your king and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” Is.36:12
f. Then the Rabshakeh stood back and called out in a loud voice in Hebrew to the people on the wall: “Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you! He won’t be able to deliver you. Don’t let Hezekiah convince you to trust in the LORD by saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” Don’t listen to him. The king of Assyria invites you to make peace with him by coming out here to me. Then each one of you will be allowed to live in his own house and eat of his own vine and fig tree, and drink the water of his own cistern, (until I come and relocate you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, bread and vineyards). Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of all the other lands I’ve conquered? Did the God of your sister country deliver Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their people out of my hand, that you would think your God would deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?”
5. This was so upsetting and so scary that the delegation tore their garments and returned to Hezekiah and told him what the general had said. (36:22).
6. When King Hezekiah heard this, he did three things:
a. He tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth.
b. He went into the house of the LORD.
c. He sent a message to Isaiah the prophet: “This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” (Is.36:3-4)
7. Isaiah’s response to the king: “Do not be afraid of these threats which revile Me. Look, I’m going to take care of this man. I will make him return to his own land, and there I will arrange for him to be killed by the sword.” (37:6-7)
8. When word comes to King Sennacherib himself that Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem are not willing to surrender, he increases the pressure on Hezekiah by sending a personal message scoffing at their trust in the Lord. (37:10-13)
9. Next comes one of my favorite parts of the story:
10. When he receives this letter from Sennacherib a desperate, terrified Hezekiah goes up to the house of the LORD, and spreads the letter out before the LORD, as if to say, “Look at what these people are saying about You, Lord.”
11. And then he utters a most beautiful prayer: “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. It’s true, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. But it’s because they were no gods, but rather made by men out of wood and stone. That’s why they were destroyed. So now, O LORD our God, save us from this king, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.” (37:16-20)
12. Now that’s where we’re going to stop this morning. There’s a lot more for future weeks. You know from 2Chron.32 that God answered the prayers of His people and sent an angel and put to death many soldiers in the Assyrian camp, so that when everyone else woke up the next morning – there were dead bodies all around! So they all withdrew and returned to Nineveh.
13. Application: This is not only a great story, but it’s full of rich practical insight and encouragement.
a. The stories of the Bible are some of our most precious treasures, and most valuable resources to strengthen our faith.
b. Referring to the stories of the OT, 1Cor.10:11 says, “These things happened to them as an example (pattern), and were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”
i. This isn’t just some random story that happened once. This is a pattern which shows us the way God works. This is an example of the kinds of things which happen to God’s people.
ii. This is a template for how we’re supposed to face terrors without panicking.
c. How rich we are that we have this story!
d. If this story is an unfamiliar story to you, you now have a new weapon in your belt to use in the battle against the devil’s fiery darts.
e. One of the coolest things about this story of faith-in-the-face-of-trouble is that in this story they used the stories of old to strengthen their faith. And now this story fuels our faith.
f. God wants to speak to us through this story:
i. Am I not mighty? Am I not able to take care of your problems? Do I not hear the prayers of My people?
ii. Am I not the One worthy of fear as opposed to all the scary monsters around you?
iii. Do I not have all things well in hand? Can I not defeat your enemies whenever I deem it right?
iv. Are My children not safe in My arms?
g. It also shows us that God sometimes puts us in a desperate place to drive us to prayer?
h. But the point is: “When your enemy presses in hard do not fear, the battle belongs to the Lord. Take courage, my friend, your redemption is near, the battle belongs to the Lord.” (1986 Kingsway’s ThankYou Music)